The invention relates to a safe high energy density battery which is position insensitive.
One of the most powerful batteries is the lithium thionyl chloride battery. The conventional lithium thionyl chloride battery is constructed in one of two forms. One form is the bobbin construction which has lithium on the walls of a can, and a carbon cylindrical cathode which is separated from the anode by a separator. A metal strip is inserted down the center of the carbon cylinder as a current collector. Another form of the lithium thionyl chloride battery is the jelly roll construction. This type of battery usually has a sheet of lithium metal of considerable length separated from a thin carbon cathode which is impressed on a screen of nickel as a current collector. The lithium metal-separator-carbon cathode pile is then rolled into a roll. The lithium metal is welded to the can and the cathode is welded to the metal strip which acts as a conductor.
The main disadvantage of either of these configurations is that the volume of the reaction products is less than the volume of the thionyl chloride which is consumed. The result is that some of the lithium anode is not reacted, thus resulting in a loss of energy density of the battery. Whether the battery is in a horizontal or a vertical position a portion of the lithium anode is left unexposed to the remaining thionyl chloride.